THE QUESTION OF LYDIA PHELPS' PARENTS PT4: CONCLUSIONS

I haven't been able to find any  a marriage record as yet for Jonathan Phelps and
Beulah Parker, but I am convinced that Jonathan was the son of Samuel Phelps and
Elizabeth Andrews and that Beulah Parker was the daughter of John Parker and
Joanna Ames.

 The reasons I've come to this conclusion:

Discrepancies in "Aunt Betsey"(Ames)Putnam's story about her parents.

1. Her statement that when Lydia Phelps met and married John Ames it
was his second marriage. There is quite a bit of information on John Ames
but there is no mention of a first marriage in any of it.

2.Her story that Lydia's parents were of Scottish descent:  I mentioned in my
last post that I recognized the names of Beulah's mother Joanna Ames in what
William Richard Cutter had written about the family. This is because I already had
Joanna Ames in my database. She was the daughter of my 8x great grandparents
John Ames and Priscilla Kimball, and she married John Parker. The Parker, Ames,
and Kimball families had been living in Massachusetts for over a century by the
time of Lydia Phelps' birth.

The probate file and Phelps genealogy information :

The match of the names of the children of Jonathan and Beulah in the probate file
with the names in Charlotte Helen Abbott's genealogy of the Phelps family. 
This gives credence to me of her identification of Jonathan as the son of
John Phelps and Elizabeth Andrews, members of two more long established
colonial Massachusetts families. I've used her genealogy of the Barker family as
a reference while working on my grandmother's family and found her to be
very reliable as I've been able to find records to verify her Barker genealogy.
 
Name Patterns:

Once again, the names of the children of Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker were:
Joanna
Lydia
Jonathan
Francis.
  
Joanna is also the name of Beulah Parker's grandmother in Cutter's genealogy of
the family.

Lydia is the name of  Jonathan Phelps' sister in Abbott's Phelps family genealogy.

Jonathan could be named for his father or a number of other men with that name in the
Phelps and Ames families.

Francis was a Phelps family name because of the marriage of Rev Francis Dane's daughter Hannah to Samuel Phelps in 1684. (Ironic considering the events of the Salem Witch trials between the two families.) They are my 7x great grandparents through my Abbott line.


I still need to find a marriage record for Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker,
but for the reasons I've given here, I believe they are my 6x great grandparents.

THE QUESTION OF LYDIA PHELPS' PARENTS PT3

Continuing the story of my search to confirm the identities of the parents of
Lydia Phelps, my 5x great grandmother:

Having looked at the probate file of Jonathan Phelps at the American Ancestors
website, I next decided to see what I could find in Charlotte Helen Abbott's EarlyRecords Of The Phelps Family Of Andover on the Memorial Hall Library of Andover,
Ma. website. Since Beulah is a distinctive name I used that in the Find function of my
Firefox browser. I found two mentions of Beulah Parker. The first is on page 5 in the
list of the children of Samuel Phelps and Elizabeth Andrews.

It says their son Jonathan Phelps was born in 1726, that he married Beulah Parker
(but no date is given) .that he died in Groton, Ma in 1758, and that Beulah's second
husband was Peter Gilson. Notice the name of Jonathan's sister above his name.

The next mention of Jonathan and Beulah is the list of their children on page 9:

They match the names of the children in the probate file for Jonathan Phelps.

I decided to Google search next using the words Beulan, Parker, and Groton to
see if I could find more on Beulah. Old reliable William Richard Cutter came through for me again:

(III) John Parker, son of Samuel Parker (2), was born at Groton, in 1694. He married in that town, May 22, 1719, Joanna Ames. Children, born in Groton: 1. John, December 12, 1719. 2. Robert, January 20, 1720. 3. Jerusha, June 20, 1725. 4. Sarah, June 8, 1727. 5. Beulah, October 10, 1729. 6. Jonathan, December 1, 1732 (twin). 7. Relief (twin), December 1, 1732. 8. Deborah, June 4, 1736. 9. Oliver, mentioned below...-p1865

William Richard Cutter, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 4(Google eBook) Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1910 Boston (Mass.)

When I saw the name of Beulah's mother, I recognized it immediately.

To be continued.

THE QUESTION OF LYDIA PHELPS' PARENTS PT2

Continuing the story of my search to confirm the identities of the parents of
Lydia Phelps, my 5x great grandmother:

I originally had Lydia's parents and Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker of
Groton, Ma. and then Hollis, New Hampshire. Sampson Read had cast doubt
on that in his genealogy of his family because of an interview with Betsey
(Ames)Putnam, my 4x great grandaunt, Betsey claimed that Jonathan Phelps
was a Scotsman because of stories Lydia had told her as a child.

The death date I had for Lydia's father Jonathan was 25Nov 1758.  Looking in the
Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871 on the American Ancestors
website, I found this file:

((Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. 

AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. 

(From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)

I opened the file and looking at the first image I knew it was the right Jonathan
Phelps:

((Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014.
(From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) ))



The document reads:
To the Honourable Saml Danforth,  Esq, Judge of
Probate for the County of Middlesex
These are to inform your Honour that it is my Desire
that you would appoint Capt Abel Lawrance of Groton
Administrator to ye estate of my husband Jonathan
Phelps Late of Groton Deceased & in so doing you oblige
your Humble Servt.
Groton March 12th 1759 Bulah Phelps
P:S: It is my desire my Brother Robert Parker
should be Gardian for my children Viz Joanna
Lydia Jonathan and Francis.
The rest of the file consists of images of the inventory of the estate, most of which
went to Beulah (Parker) Phelps.

Next I went to  website for the Memorial Hall Library of Andover, Ma. , specifically to
the page for the Abbott Genealogies. These are collected genealogies written by my
distant cousin Charlotte Helen Abbott . She was a well known genealogist who wrote
a series of columns on the histories of Andover families for the local town newspaper.
One of those families was the Phelps family.

I'll discuss what she wrote about Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker in my next post.

To be continued...

THE QUESTION OF LYDIA PHELPS' PARENTS PT1

A few years back I posted about the question of the identities of the parents of
Lydia (Phelps) West, my 5x great grandmother. The original information I had
was that she was the daughter of Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker of Groton,
Massachusetts. Then seven years ago I found this:

"My father was John Ames, who was born in Groton, Mass., and
mother was Lydia Phelps, who was born in Hollis, Mass... When
father married second wife, the widow of Sampson Read, she had
three children, Sampson, Lydia and Amy, then children by John
Ames were: John, Jonathan, Zekiel, Polly, Betsey, and Ralph;
all born in Groton, Mass., except Ralph, who was in Merrimac,
Mass., and myself in Hollis." --Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel
H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

"Lydia Phelps, my mother, was of Scottish decent [sic], whose
parents were born in Scotland, and from whom the Reads got
their light eyes, so father Ames used to say."
--Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

((The source for the quotes is: "Genealogical Record of The Reads,
Reeds, the Bisbees, the Bradfords of the United States of America"
in the line of Esdras Read of Boston and England, 1635 to 1915.
Thomas Besbedge or Bisbee of Scituate, Mass. and England, 1634
to 1915. Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth, Mass., and
England, 1620 to 1915." By Axel Hayford Reed, Glencoe, MN,
1915. I found them here at “The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson,
Bradford, Reed,” by Larry Overmire, RootsWeb World Connect Project,
2000-2007))

On the strength of that I unlinked Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Paker as Lydia's
parents because their families had been in Massachusetts for nearly a century
before Lydia's birth. But I didn't remove them or their families from my database
until I found more definite proof one way or the other . Then a few months back
the NEHGS added the Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871 
images to their American Ancestors and I started searching there for for the probate
files belonging  to my Middlesex County ancestors. One of the names I searched
for was Jonathan Phelps.

What I found there and one other place has I think settled the question of who
Lydia Phelps' parents were for me.

To be continued

JOHN AMES(EAMES) AND LYDIA PHELPS

((Recent discoveries have cause me to reexamine the conclusion
of this post and I'll discuss that next. But I thought I'd reprint this 
for background. Originally posted 22April 2007))



I mentioned earlier that I’d recently found information that
disproves the belief that my ancestress Lydia Phelps was the
daughter of Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker. I’d googled
around with intentions of doing a post about ancestors who’d
been called to arms at Concord and Lexington when I found
this at “The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson, Bradford,
Reed,” by Larry Overmire, RootsWeb World Connect Project,
2000-2007 on John Ames, Lydia Phelp’s husband.


The line that caught my interest right away was one concerning
John teaching his stepson Sampson the blacksmith’s trade. This
was the first I’d ever heard of stepchildren, so I then read Larry’s
entry on Lydia Phelps:

“OF SCOTTISH ANCESTRY

GREAT GRANDMOTHER OF CIVIL WAR HERO AXEL HAYFORD
REED

Lydia was of Scottish descent, her parents born in Scotland. She
was known as a "remarkably vigorous woman." She and her
second husband John Ames migrated to the wilds of Maine about
1793-5.” -Larry Overmire, The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft,
Richardson, Bradford, Reed.


There followed two quotes:

"My father was John Ames, who was born in Groton, Mass., and
mother was Lydia Phelps, who was born in Hollis, Mass... When
father married second wife, the widow of Sampson Read, she had
three children, Sampson, Lydia and Amy, then children by John
Ames were: John, Jonathan, Zekiel, Polly, Betsey, and Ralph;
all born in Groton, Mass., except Ralph, who was in Merrimac,
Mass., and myself in Hollis." --Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel
H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

"Lydia Phelps, my mother, was of Scottish decent [sic], whose
parents were born in Scotland, and from whom the Reads got
their light eyes, so father Ames used to say."
--Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

((The source for the quotes is: "Genealogical Record of The Reads,
Reeds, the Bisbees, the Bradfords of the United States of America"
in the line of Esdras Read of Boston and England, 1635 to 1915.
Thomas Besbedge or Bisbee of Scituate, Mass. and England, 1634
to 1915. Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth, Mass., and
England, 1620 to 1915." By Axel Hayford Reed, Glencoe, MN,
1915))


The list of children given for John and Lydia by Betsey Putnam is
what I had already in my records but the information that Lydia’s
parents were Scottish-born was new and negates the supposed
descent from the Phelps of Andover. This is a personal account of
one of John and Lydia’s own children, after all.


And now I’m left with another question: if Lydia was the second
wife of John Ames, who was the first?

My thanks to Larry Overmire for permission to use his research!

JOHN AMES HEIRS

((Some of the following information was found on the IGI and at
the Rootsweb Peru, Oxford, Maine and Canton, Oxford, Maine
Genealogy Projects of Craig Bryant and as I say in my blog
header, is not entirely set in stone until its been verified.)



Between them John Ames and Lydia Phelps had ten children;
Lydia’s three children by her first husband, Sampson Read
(Sampson, Lydia and Amy) were not included on John Ames’
petition possibly because as stepchildren their claims were
superseded by his own children. Also, one, Sampson Read Jr.,
was already dead so his sisters might have also passed away
already.



Of the seven Ames children, one, Ezekiel (or Ezekial) is missing
from the list of John’s heirs. Ezekiel died in Hartford Maine on 12
November 1806 at age 23 and may have been the husband of
Lydia Chickering but I’ve not yet found convincing evidence of
that.


John and Lydia’s remaining six children were already middle
aged themselves at the time the petition was filed in 1832.

The eldest, John Ames(another one!), was 53 years old and
married to Grace(last name unknown). They had seven children,
four girls and three boys.


The next son, Jonathan Phelps Ames, married Polly Griffith and
had ten children. Polly died in 1834 and Jonathan married her
sister Sarah with whom he had three more children. (Jonathan
and Polly’s daughter Arvilla is my ancestor through her marriage
to John Cutter West.) He was 51 years old at the time of the
petition.



Sally Ames married Isaac Fuller with whom she had at least one
child that I’ve been able to find and was 48 years old when the
petition was filed.



Polly Ames was 47 at the filing and was married to Sylvanus
Poland.They had nine children. Two of her sons had “Ames” as
their middle name


Finally, Betsey (or Betsy) was married to James Putnam and had
two children. She was 42 years old in 1832. Like her sister Polly's,
several of her children and grandchildren had the middle name
“Ames”.


Some of the grandchildren married each other. John Phelps
Ames’ son Generous married his cousin Grace Ames, daughter
of his Uncle John Ames.(They had a son with the unique name of
Generous Fernando Ames!) Sally Ames’ son Ezekiel married his
cousin Asenath, daughter of his uncle Ralph Ames. And overall,
John Ames’ tribe increased, with nearly thirty grandchildren at
the time of his death.


I’m sure there are posts in the future about these cousins of
mine, but for now, this concludes my series on John Ames and
his Revolutionary War pension file.

JOHN AMES(EAMES) AND LYDIA PHELPS

I mentioned earlier that I’d recently found information that
disproves the belief that my ancestress Lydia Phelps was the
daughter of Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker. I’d googled
around with intentions of doing a post about ancestors who’d
been called to arms at Concord and Lexington when I found
this at “The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson, Bradford,
Reed,” by Larry Overmire, RootsWeb World Connect Project,
2000-2007 on John Ames, Lydia Phelp’s husband.


The line that caught my interest right away was one concerning
John teaching his stepson Sampson the blacksmith’s trade. This
was the first I’d ever heard of stepchildren, so I then read Larry’s
entry on Lydia Phelps:

“OF SCOTTISH ANCESTRY

GREAT GRANDMOTHER OF CIVIL WAR HERO AXEL HAYFORD
REED

Lydia was of Scottish descent, her parents born in Scotland. She
was known as a "remarkably vigorous woman." She and her
second husband John Ames migrated to the wilds of Maine about
1793-5.” -Larry Overmire, The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft,
Richardson, Bradford, Reed.


There followed two quotes:

"My father was John Ames, who was born in Groton, Mass., and
mother was Lydia Phelps, who was born in Hollis, Mass... When
father married second wife, the widow of Sampson Read, she had
three children, Sampson, Lydia and Amy, then children by John
Ames were: John, Jonathan, Zekiel, Polly, Betsey, and Ralph;
all born in Groton, Mass., except Ralph, who was in Merrimac,
Mass., and myself in Hollis." --Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel
H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

"Lydia Phelps, my mother, was of Scottish decent [sic], whose
parents were born in Scotland, and from whom the Reads got
their light eyes, so father Ames used to say."
--Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

((The source for the quotes is: "Genealogical Record of The Reads,
Reeds, the Bisbees, the Bradfords of the United States of America"
in the line of Esdras Read of Boston and England, 1635 to 1915.
Thomas Besbedge or Bisbee of Scituate, Mass. and England, 1634
to 1915. Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth, Mass., and
England, 1620 to 1915." By Axel Hayford Reed, Glencoe, MN,
1915))


The list of children given for John and Lydia by Betsey Putnam is
what I had already in my records but the information that Lydia’s
parents were Scottish-born was new and negates the supposed
descent from the Phelps of Andover. This is a personal account of
one of John and Lydia’s own children, after all.


And now I’m left with another question: if Lydia was the second
wife of John Ames, who was the first?

My thanks to Larry Overmire for permission to use his research!